‘Socio-Cultural Significance of Cinematic Reconstruction of the 1812 Patriotic War Events

Kirill I. Keychenko, Scientific Researcher at the Chair of Philosophy of Politics and Law, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Philosophical Department

E-mail: philos@inbox.ru

Alena S. Sycheva, Lecturer at the Department of Public Administration, Russian Academy of National Economy under the RF President of Russian Federation

E-mail:9737101@mail.ru

Study of artistic reconstructions of historical events has a significant impact on the formation of myths and events representations in the collective consciousness. Our article focuses on the attempts to implement the canonical images of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 in Russian (pre-Revolution, Soviet, and post-Soviet) cinematographic and their socio-cultural significance. Both subsonic infancy cinema and modern stage of its development are being studied. Method of comparing distant in time film works is able to demonstrate the transformation of 1812 mythology.

We have studied in detail the plots and cinematic techniques used in such films as "1812" (1912) by A. Khanzhonkov, documentary newsreels of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino filmed by "Gaumont", movies "War and Peace" by V. Gardin and Ya. Protazanov (1815), and by S. Bondarchuk (1965–1967), as well as contemporary films.

In terms of studying artistic reconstructions of the events in 1812 the most interesting thing is the combination of documented reality and the artistic and mythological ‘superstructure’. Comparison of specific episodes of artworks to real historical facts leads to the conclusion that the attempt to transfer the on-screen key events of the war up to the factual level was carried out by pre-revolutionary filmmakers only, while subsequent cinematographic of the Soviet and post-Soviet era were more of either propaganda or profanation nature.

Keywords: political power, political stereotypes, War of 1812, patriotism, culture, memory, national character.

References:

Abel R. "Frame Stories for Writing the History of French Silent Cinema." Studies in French Cinema 2.1 (2002): 5–13.

Abel R. The Ciné Goes To Town: French Cinema, 1896–1914. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.